POLITICS CORNER

[Tripps]

Paddy power is offering 3 to 1 against a win by the YES voters, so if it's that close, it might be worth an interest. The NO vote is currently favourite at 1 to 5.

"The race is not always to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, but that's the way to bet." Damon Runyon.

[Stanley]

In a separate announcement the EA is stressing the value of flood plains to protect properties downstream. Creating such flood plains is a condition of some farm grants. I can't help thinking that this is a clue to where the EA is going.

[Tardis]

Jake Rees Mogg tweeted:

"I have discovered that the @Ed_Miliband twitter account which I took to be a hilarious closely observed parody is actually the real thing"

[Stanley]

I keep forgetting to mention the recent spat between Gove and Ofsted. Note that he said he hadn't briefed against them and that the leader of Ofsted told him to call his attack dogs off. It's well known in the Bubble that Gove has a cadre of 'supporters' who do his dirty work for him and he of course says 'Not me guv'. I think the mention of 'attack dogs' is a heavy clue to what is going on here. It's a dirty world down there in the Bubble!
Some rapid rowing back on dredging in the Levels by Cameron. Nothing to do with the floods of course, this is politics. Bugger the arguments for and against, it's almost an election year and these matters have to be addressed! All we need is a programme on the floods a la Benefit Street and action is assured! Politics by media.
By the way, have you noticed how quiet everyone is about the Romanian invasion?
Did you notice the heavy hint form Mark Carny in his speech in Scotland against monetary union between an independent Scotland and the rest of the UK? He gave the example of the EU as proof that proper monetary union can't be achieved without political integration and loss of sovereignty. This plays into the proposed referendum on the EU if it ever happens. Things have gone quiet in the EU since Germany relented and allowed the Central Banks to modify their approach to the Mediterranean defaulters. Nothing has been mended there, simply that the EU is now avoiding headlines by making subsidy easier. It is still a broken system buying time to allow closer political union.
One last comment about Afghanistan. More and more reports coming out forecasting the collapse of the government forces and resurgence of the Taliban once the coalition support is removed. Question, will Afghanistan in five years be in any better condition than when we went in? Have we wasted blood and treasure for nothing?

[plaques]

will Afghanistan in five years be in any better condition than when we went in? Have we wasted blood and treasure for nothing?

A quick read of "Charley Wilson's War" should answer this question. I'm amazed that the Americans tried it for a second time. NATO and Blair got us involved in a totally pointless conflict.

[hartley353]

A lot of people make money from armed conflict that is the only reason we have it. The only winners have very fat wallets.

[Stanley]

Always been the case. Look up corporate involvement in Iraq and recognise who the major shareholders were....
Krupps got £40,000 out of the UK government after WW1 because we had been using their design of fuses for artillery shells...

[Stanley]

See this LINK for David Law's reaction to the sacking of Baroness Morgan in mid term at her job at OFSTED. He is of course Gove's Lib Dem second in command at the Ministry of Education. I must admit I can't weigh Gove up. On the whole he seems to be proving he is a nasty devious character who thinks he is right all the time. This is no way to treat the education of our children.

[Stanley]

See this LINK for a report from the Ernst and Young Item Club calling for action on the property price bubble developing in London. Just one aspect of the economic disconnect between London and the SE and the rest of the country. Shades of Cobbett's 'Great Wen'. (LINK)
The sacking of Baroness Morgan from Ofsted is not going away. (LINK). There was an interesting piece on The Week in Westminster last night about Gove changing his personal ambitions during his tenure at Education. The theory is that he is trying to get reforms in place before the 2015 election that cannot be undone. Whatever the truth in this he is not handling it well. He is making enemies even inside his own department and party. I don't trust this man.....

[Tardis]

This little graph shows memberships of quango's by party from the BBC, funny how it wasn't an issue until now:

[plaques]

Ernst and Young Item Club calling for action on the property price bubble developing in London

So we've got the super rich foreigners outbidding our filthy rich bankers and so on down the pecking order. No mention of the poor sods who live in Tower Hamlets. if this was a strategic utility or National asset we would be hearing "we have got to show that we are open for business". This is what you get in a rampant unregulated capitalist system.

This little graph shows memberships of quango's by party from the BBC, funny how it wasn't an issue until now:

Quite right. Revolving doors with each successive government. The whole system looks corrupt. The next years red line drops to meet the blue line. Its about time we got a grip on the whole quango setup.

[Stanley]

"This is what you get in a rampant unregulated capitalist system."
Spot on P! But of course we are unreformed Lefties who don't really understand the finer points of economics so we'd better keep stum. In the US they'd call us 'socialists'! They should read and understand Marx, he saw all this coming 150 years ago.
I know it's reprehensible but I had to smile at the closing line of a report about the sacking of the UKIP commonwealth spokesman because of his involvement in a kidnapping. The report ended "He has now joined the Conservative Party".

[Tardis]

This little graph shows memberships of quango's by party from the BBC, funny how it wasn't an issue until now:

Quite right. Revolving doors with each successive government. The whole system looks corrupt. The next years red line drops to meet the blue line. Its about time we got a grip on the whole quango setup.

The troughing never ceases to amaze me, and those 13 years were certainly beneficial to certain apparatchiks within the Labour party Organisation

[Stanley]

I think we saw history being made yesterday. As part of the reporting on the flood fiasco on the 6pm news Nick Robinson drew attention to this week's PE cover. Well done Strobes!
The country heaves a sigh of relief as David Cameron takes over the flood response. So that's all right then! No respite in sight, the lows are still marching in from the Atlantic. How much better if £100million had been thrown at essential maintenance over the long term rather than as a knee jerk reaction when it becomes obvious even to the politicians that something has gone sadly wrong. By the way, locals at Dawlish have been saying for years that the line there was under-maintained and vulnerable.

[Stanley]

PE reports that Chris Smith's doctoral qualifications are Wordsworth and Coleridge. Have a look at this SITE for what looks like some persuasive and informed comment about the Environment Agency....

The news from the SW this morning is dire and although there may be a respite today, tomorrow and Saturday are looking bad. Great flurry of knee jerk activity of course but the common thread running through all the reports from long time residents is that whether it's sea defences or inland flooding, the main cause is under investment in maintenance. As Bob Smith once said "We've plaited sawdust for too long and now all us pigeons are coming home to roost". That just about sums up what these residents think and regardless of the 'experts' they should be listened to, there's just a chance they might be right.....

[Tardis]

If Chris Smith is forced to resign, will that be another Tory witch hunt through the quangos of Labour appointees, or just ultimate accountability for inability to perform the role?

[Tardis]

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/town ... -this-year

#freezeplease

In a boost to direct democracy, any local authority that chooses to raise Council Tax by 2% or above must put it to a public vote said Mr Pickles. This threshold is lower than last year striking an appropriate balance between direct democracy and representative democracy ensuring local people have a democratic check over tax hikes through a binding local referendum. Local referendums could be held on the same day as the European elections on 22 May at minimal extra cost or inconvenience

Only a Local Authority?

[Tardis]

and the American diplomat who said "F**k the EU"?

[Bruff]

Brighton I think, is putting a proposed Council Tax rise somewhat above 2% to a referendum. They have explained why they want to do this and where the extra will be spent. Should this be carried it will be interesting to see Mr Pickles' reaction - in theory, he should be delighted yet in reality, I suspect not and wouldn't be surprised if there were more 'tinkering' with the rules.

Richard Broughton

[Stanley]

Richard, you will not be surprised when it happens. The political imperative trumps 'rules'!
If you're a connoisseur of bare faced effrontery listen to Eric Pickles doing a U-turn in PMQs yesterday. He brushed off Maria Eagle by ignoring her questions about non-arrival of funding promised for maintenance of SW rail links and flatly denied that he had criticised the EA.

[Tardis]

Brighton I think, is putting a proposed Council Tax rise somewhat above 2% to a referendum. They have explained why they want to do this and where the extra will be spent. Should this be carried it will be interesting to see Mr Pickles' reaction - in theory, he should be delighted yet in reality, I suspect not and wouldn't be surprised if there were more 'tinkering' with the rules.

Richard Broughton

At least they are putting forward their arguments to the public and allowing them to decide rather than an automatic increase up to the allowed limit

[Tardis]

I'm not sure I fully understand this ruling:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/fina ... atens.html

But it could have a major impact on the UK economy if even half of the scare comes about

[Stanley]

I think we can assume that David Cameron is taking matters seriously when he goes onto national TV and says "money is no object". I have an idea that this might come back to haunt him. Apart from anything else it is obviously untrue if people take it to mean that there will be unlimited spending on flood measures. How does this square with the funding cuts for the EA which include a reduction of 1500 staff, 500 of whom are directly connected with flood measures? Remember that 60% of the public service cuts Osborne has announced have not yet come into force.
The bottom line is that he has been handbagged by Mother Nature. This is the wettest winter for over 250 years and nothing could have stopped the higher levels of flooding we are seeing. There is the case that better maintenance could have alleviated the problem, especially in the Levels if regular dredging of the rivers and maintenance of the smaller drains had been better but events like the flooding below Windsor could not have been avoided. If you build on vulnerable land you will get flooded eventually and if what we are seeing is the start of more frequent severe events caused by climate change this will happen more often. The big question in my mind is what is going to happen in London. The flooded areas are in line for another month's worth of rain over the next two days so they tell us. I have heard nothing about the consequences in London apart form the fact that the Thames Barrier is being closed almost daily to hold the tide back. I have a funny feeling that when Cameron says that things will get worse this is at the back of his mind. One thing is certain, even if they were sure that London is going to suffer they wouldn't be advertising it. Wouldn't you think that this would be part of the media coverage? Think shots of how close high water levels are on the Embankment walls? Is the news being managed?
Another measure of how bad things are is the temper of the House and from what I heard of PMQs yesterday it sounded like a street riot.

[Thomo]

I get the impression that places up river of London are being sacrificed to protect the "City". The Thames is another river that has a poor flow rate in the lower reaches, and I assume that when the barrage is closed to keep the sea out, and under the current weather conditions, the river will back up rapidly. The aerial film shown on last night news was interesting, housing on plots more like small estates and each with a river boat moored out front. I think that Stanley was right when he spoke of the emphasis shifting from Somerset to London on another topic, and I can imagine that the owners of some of these impressive dwellings will react with anger at what is happening to their manicured show pieces, someone will be to blame.

[Tardis]

PMQ's is today, isn't it?